Opioid prescriptions, number of pills dispensed declining in Ohio

There were 162 million fewer opioid pills dispensed to Ohio patients in 2016 than in 2012, a 20 percent decrease.

The number of pills dispensed has declined for the past four years after peaking in 2012 at 793 million pills, according to the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS). The number dispensed dipped to 631 million in 2016.

Opioid prescriptions written in the state also peaked in 2012 at 12.6 million has decreased each of the following four years. The number of prescriptions dropped to 10.1 million in 2016, a 20.4 percent decrease since 2012.

According to OARRS, the total number of “doctor shoppers” in Ohio also has decreased over the past several years as well. Doctor shopping is defined as “an individual receiving a prescription for a controlled substance from five or more prescribers in one calendar month.”